2011 Preview Blitz: Independent Schedule Breakdown

Examining the schedules of independents is a bit different from breaking down their conference-member counterparts. To that end, the Independent Schedule Breakdown will take on a different form than the previous editions. Each of the four independents get their own individualized breakdown, after the jump.

ARMY

The Cadets returned to the postseason for the first time in nearly 15 years, and made the most of it with a Military Bowl defeat of SMU. Army hasn’t had the easiest go of it over the past decade, and in 2011 will face challenges. West Point faces six teams that reached bowls in 2010 (Northern Illinois, San Diego State, Northwestern, Navy, Air Force, Miami (OH)) and four of them won those games (all but Navy and Northwestern). Included among the teams Army plays that didn’t reach the postseason are Rutgers, which has rattled off four consecutive victories over the Cadets since 2007; Temple, which finished 8-4; and Vanderbilt. Army secured its first victory over an SEC program in the modern era when it took down Vandy in ’09, in West Point. This time, the teams meet at Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt is one of an astounding eight games the Cadets will play away from home. Army’s last home game is in October, leading up to two road games and two neutral site contests down the stretch. As it is every year, the Army-Navy Game is played neutrally in Washington, D.C. The Black Knights of West Point also return to Yankee Stadium, where last year they fell to Notre Dame. This time, Rutgers is the opponent.

Army faces an uphill climb back to the postseason. SDSU and Northwestern are arguably the two toughest teams on the docket, and comprise half of the home games. Games against talented NIU, Temple and Air Force being on the road present a serious challenge, and Army’s layoff between its Temple matchup and season finale vs. Navy is three weeks.

BYU

For as narrow a window as BYU had to put together its inaugural independent schedule, the Cougars did a masterful job. The first three weeks of the season make for the Cougars’ most challenging stretch, but one that will get great national exposure. BYU has played an ambitious non-conference schedule in recent years: getting a home-and-home with Florida State*, meeting Oklahoma in the grand opening of Jerry World, playing home-and-homes with three Pac members (Arizona, Washington, UCLA). Yet in that time, BYU hasn’t faced an SEC opponent.

Edited 6:37 p.m. PT – Courtesy @bhein3 & @BYUGiff

Week 1 rectifies that when the Cougars come to The Grove in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss is coming off a disappointing 2010 and still has questions to address for the coming season, but that doesn’t make this matchup any less historically significant. The trip to Ole Miss is an appetizer before the biggie in Week 2, another marquee road contest at Texas. These two games coming in consecutive weeks with national billing are tremendous positive marks for the university’s indepedent decision, as discussed at length here.

September closes out with two more big games, with two top 25 potential teams coming to Provo: rival Utah and reigning Conference USA champion UCF. BYU’s September is arguably the most difficult in all of college football. From there, the Cougars’ schedule tapers off as conference play begins, which is to be expected under the circumstances. Having to fill out a slate on the short timeframe available yielded several matchups with WAC opponents: Utah State, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Idaho and Hawaii.

And while the October-November slate isn’t the main event bout-laden BYU’s September Saturdays consistently shape as, Oregon State is a highlight. And Jerry Jones, ever accommodating of big events, is hosting BYU-TCU for a Friday night showdown the last weekend of October.

NAVY

Matchups with eight 2010 bowl qualifiers highlight a typically challenging Mids’ schedule. Navy’s run of consistency has yielded eight straight bowl games, and 2011 should result in No. 9. But the Midshipmen face a schedule that likely won’t yield another double-digit win campaign. Like its rival in West Point, Navy plays more games away from home, drawing just five contests in Annapolis. And of those five, four are against bowl game participants: Southern Miss, East Carolina, Air Force and Troy. The fifth is the season opener against FCS runner-up Delaware.

The Mids have a steady diet of rivalry games lined up. AFA snapped Navy’s stranglehold on the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, holding the Mids to a season-low six points last season in Colorado. Those two games vs. AFA and Army are certainly highlights on the schedule, but the Naval Academy also has rivalry games scheduled against SMU, Rutgers and Notre Dame. The SMU rivalry is a new one, with the recent creation of the Gansz Trophy. The programs are peaking simultaneously, which gives this otherwise forgettable matchup some added oomph. RU has deep roots in the early years of college football, pitting two of the original football-playing institutions head-to-head, while UND has had recent intrigue. Navy’s two victories out of the last three matchups have come by a combined five points.

The streak of eight consecutive bowl appearances Navy has built up the last few years isn’t in jeopardy of snapping, but the schedule isn’t conducive to producing another 10-win campaign.

NOTRE DAME

UND plays its typically challenging slate once again, with a usual cast of characters including Stanford, USC, Boston College, Michigan, and Michigan State all waiting. Some, like Phil Steele, have the Irish pegged as a BCS bowl team. Should the Irish get the 10 wins precedent suggests they’d need for such an invitation, it will have been well earned. UND plays the most challenging schedule in all of college football: nine 2010 bowl qualifiers and a 10th opponent (USC) who finished with eight wins. And beyond that, the quality of opponent the Irish draw is top-notch.

The season’s bookended with contest facing teams with realistic conference championship aspirations: vs. USF in Week 1, then the finale at Stanford in November. The USF game is a departure from the lower-level openers UND has played in recent years, and also something of a family affair with longtime Irish coach Lou Holtz’s son Skip leading the Bulls. UND immediately jumps from that marquee matchup to an historic showdown under the brand new Big House lights at Michigan. The Michigan nighttime affair is the first of two for UND, which hosts USC for the first-ever installment of that series under Notre Dame Stadium’s lights.

Even the games lacking historical significance are some of the best non-conference clashes being played in 2011. Take the Irish’s trips to Maryland and Pitt (the former is a neutral site game but for all intents and purposes is on the road). For most any other program, those would be top tier OOC games. In Notre Dame’s schedule with Stanford and the Michigan schools, those games take something of a back seat.